May 19, 2019, Fifth Sunday of Easter

This weekend, May 18-19, our diocese will take up the Catholic Relief Services Collection. Your support of this collection serves as Jesus in disguise in some of the most marginalized communities in our world. In rural communities in Afghanistan, for example, children have limited access to education because of distance and the danger of commuting to public schools.

In the remote village of Ghor, one of the poorest provinces of the country, an estimated 80% of adults are illiterate, and the illiteracy rate is even higher for women.

Most villagers are farmers who never attended school. The closest school was too far and the road too dangerous for young children to attend.

But you helped bring a community-based classroom to this remote village. Your generosity made it possible for the children to attend school and has offered them a more hopeful and secure future.

Such programs have been implemented across Afghanistan for 15 years and have helped more than 23,000 students build more prosperous lives. Children across Afghanistan, and indeed, the world depends on your support to go to school and have bright futures.